Worlds Above
by Ashlee Pond
Summary: She thinks that perhaps she's finally found the world above she always yearned for, in this strange blue box that's bigger on the inside. With all the running they do she's never been more grateful for her legs. - The Little Mermaid wants adventure, & everyone knows the Doctor has a soft spot for gingers.
1. Savior

They meet at a pond, naturally.

Neither of them are really supposed to be there, and yet as soon as he sees her he gets that feeling, the one that runs right from his hearts to the tips of his fingers, buzzes around his brain and tells him _this is the one._

She's submerged in the water, painfully familiar red hair tumbling down around her face and pooling around her shoulders in a ring of titian, and as she stares at him he notes that her eyes are TARDIS blue and insatiably inquisitive. Her face is youthful, with full cheeks and a pointed chin, and her pink lips are parted in surprise.

For a long moment – one-hundred and sixty-two seconds, to be precise – the two of them are silent, stunned speechless by the sight before them.

He's the first to speak, tired of mournful silence. He coughs and gestures vaguely to the edge of the pond, saying, "Do you, uh – do you need help?"

When she eventually finds her voice her words are soft and lyrical, at an accented pitch that makes his hearts beat just that little bit faster. "You answered my call," she says, slowly breaking out into a smile.

He blinks at her, confused, because he didn't answer anyone's call – he was minding his own business, floating through the vortex and avoiding his own thoughts, when the TARDIS took it upon herself to fly them here.

Oh. A cry for help, from a ginger haired girl stuck in a pond; of course the TARDIS wouldn't let him ignore that.

"I suppose I have," he tells her, and it's not really a lie, because now that he's here he can't just leave her.

And so he finds himself stumbling back to the TARDIS with a mermaid in his arms, a job that wouldn't be nearly as difficult if she would stop plucking at his braces and pulling at his bowtie, introducing herself as Ariel and exclaiming in his ear about how she's never seen any human in clothes like his before and how her father told her that all men were bad, but she knew that he was wrong, she just _knew it_.

Nine-hundred years of travelling has made him prepared for almost anything, but he'd never imagined a mermaid would be so fascinated with everything outside the ocean, and as she talks he finds himself replying without thinking. He informs her that he is not, in fact, a human, but a _Time Lord, _and she exhales reverently before asking what that is. He tells her then, all about travelling through Time and Space and the wonders of the universe, and he watches her eyes grow wider and wider with each word that topples past his lips.

When they near the blue police call box he shifts her weight in his arms to lift one hand and click his fingers, and she mimics the sound by clicking her tongue before gasping as the door swings open. The TARDIS amazes her and as he carries her across the threshold and up the stairs she squirms in his arms, craning her neck to try and see right around the console room.

He drops her into the swimming pool in the library, more convenient than the bathtub, and she swims in a circle before blinking up at him innocently and asking the question he's been waiting for since the first moment she tugged on his bowtie.

"Can I come with you?"

He can't look at her in that moment, staring up at him with hopeful blue eyes and flaming red hair, putting her life in his hands. He looks down, shuffles his feet and scratches his cheek nervously. He mumbles something about legs being a necessity and runs from the room before he can see her cry.

He takes her back to the ocean, trying to ignore the nagging curiosity at the back of his mind asking how she ended up in that pond in the first place, and she's silent the entire time he carries her down to the shoreline. Her energy has subsided, and when he places her carefully in the shallows he can't help but notice just how sad she looks.

He apologises at the exact same moment that she thanks him, and to break the awkward pause that follows she laughs quietly and says, "If you ever figure out a way to give a mermaid legs, come find me." She tries to make it sound like she's joking, but they both know she's not.

He won't allow himself to do this again though, won't let anyone else come with him, because he's too dangerous and they all end up hurt, trapped where he can't save them.

So he waves goodbye and disappears back into the TARDIS, leaving her behind. She stares at the empty space on the beach where the blue box had been and a single tear escapes from the corner of her eye as she thinks about all the worlds she could have seen, if only he'd taken her with him.

She waits for him to return, hovering around the beach for three days and listening out for the sound of his ship, but by evening on the third day she thinks perhaps it's time to give up. She's about to dive under the waves to deeper water when suddenly the box reappears, hovering above the water right in front of her. He throws the door open and leans out, giving her a lopsided grin that she instinctively returns.

He starts to speak, a long string of words that she doesn't really understand, describing a machine he has on the TARDIS that just needs to be re-routed, something about regeneration energy and similarities between homo sapiens and homo sirenia, and she listens intently. He trails off after a moment, and stares down at her expectantly.

When she remains silent he says, "So, different worlds. Wanna see some?"

He watches her expression change in an instant, excitement and disbelief making her eyes glow and a wide smile lighting up her whole face. He's offered her all of Time and Space, and of course she accepts without hesitation. He lets out a whoop of excitement at that, because he certainly wasn't going to leave her waiting any longer.

* * *

**a.n.  
this chapter was re-written on the 22.01.2013.  
**such a random au but we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later. yes, folks, here is an 'ariel, aka. the little mermaid, as a companion' story. i put it here because i'm a review whore and i know that this is the section in which it will get the most recognition. once it's done i'll probably move it.  
this will be updated every four days - i know this for a fact because it's already completed and typed up and done.  
the eleventh doctor has just lost the ponds. there will be a stack of references to our dear ponds, because drawing comparisons between ariel and amy is one of my favourite things to do.  
ariel's story is obviously au, but it also ties in with the canon. you'll see.  
cover art by khallion on deviantart; check out her profile for more amazing stuff.  
please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Dance

**a.n.** chapter one has been re-written.

* * *

Three hours on the TARDIS and she's smiling with infectious glee and singing to herself as she wanders the endless hallways on her brand new, still slightly unsteady legs, serenading him as he dances around the centre console and propels them across all of Time and Space.

She twirls in a circle and thanks him again and again, and he sweeps her up off her feet and leads her around the control room in a waltz. She's the most beautiful dancer he's ever seen, even if every now and again she almost forgets the fact that she has two legs and her clumsiness returns.

He catches her when she nearly falls down the stairs, his hand on the small of her back and his lips so close to hers that she can taste the stardust on his breath. For a moment Time freezes around them, universes grinding to a halt and starting up with a stutter when he straightens and plants her back on her feet.

She counts the rhythm of his hearts before he lets her go, and she doesn't miss the fact that his missed a beat just as hers did. He steps away though, scratches his cheek nervously and goes back to fiddling with any number of the dials on the console, and she doesn't mention the fact.

Because this little mermaid is observant, she knows by now that he's a little broken, and she thinks perhaps it's normal for broken hearts to misstep.

So she simply smiles again and spins around the console, letting her red hair fly out behind her and grabbing his hand to pull him back into a dance, grinning at him until he grins back.


	3. View

That first evening, he finds her with her new legs dangling out the open door of the TARDIS, staring down at the Earth below and humming an upbeat tune softly to herself.

He doesn't ask her what she's thinking, merely sits down beside her and silently observes the slow turn of the planet they're orbiting. She pretends that he's been sitting there the whole time, and he pretends not to notice the way she smiles and blushes when his hand accidentally brushes hers.

The blue water that makes Earth so unique in this universe covers the majority of the planet's surface, and as she memorises the layout of where each bit of land meets the seas she allows herself to remember - and mourn, however briefly and however detached - the home beneath the ocean she's had to leave behind.

She doesn't stop her song until three minutes later, when she awkwardly shuffles closer and gingerly rests her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her waist and plants a soft kiss on her forehead, and still neither say a word.

They stay like that, floating around her planet, and she thinks that perhaps she's finally found the world above she always yearned for, in this strange blue box that's bigger on the inside.


	4. Space

Space is so much more infinite than she could have ever imagined, and he insists on taking her to see as much of it as possible.

They dance across solar systems, from gigantic red planets with seas of fire to planets coated entirely in ice, where snow falls onto her eyelashes and her tongue and her hair and he watches her spin with an affectionate smile. He takes her to jungle planets and grand civilisations with towering buildings, to the past and the future and everywhere he can think of.

She clasps his hand and pulls him along, eager to take in as much of the new worlds as she possibly can, and he humours her for a while before grabbing her small hand in his large one and leading her along on another adventure.

With all the running they do, she's never been more grateful for her legs.


	5. Swimming Pool

Three days in and she's finally found the swimming pool. To her it makes perfect sense that it's in the library; where else would a pool be? She's floating on the surface, her hair splayed about her head in a luminescent, titian halo, her eyes closed and her body weightless within the embrace of the water, which isn't quite familiar but isn't strange to her, either.

She's not expecting the panicked cry of her name and the startling splash as he launches himself into the pool beside her. Her eyelids shoot open but before she can even lift her head he's scooping her out of the water and hauling her over to the tiled edge, pushing her onto solid ground and spluttering his concerns.

She tells him that she's fine but he doesn't listen, presses his ear to her breast to check her heartbeat and then gets concerned about the red flush that spreads up her neck and across her cheeks. She pushes him back and insists that she's alright, but his blue eyes are so wide and so earnest that she can't help but agree to let him carry her to the hospital wing to make sure there's no water in her lungs.

He doesn't seem to care about the fact that his favourite tweed jacket is probably ruined, just as dripping wet as the rest of him. His dark hair falls in front of his forehead and droplets of water run off his fringe and down his nose, but he doesn't seem to care about those either. All he seems to care about is her.

He tells her she was drowning, repeats it over and over, sounding more terrified each time, and she gets confused because she knows what it is to drown and that certainly wasn't it.

Floating, she corrects him, her lips brushing the side of his neck as he has her cradled in his arms; she was floating.

He raises an eyebrow at her and she immediately wonders what human custom she's missed this time. He shifts one hand beneath her to fluff up the hem of her dress, flipping it up to display her ankle. Apparently you can't float in a dress.

But she couldn't find any seashells, what did he expect her to do?

She feels his laugh before she hears it; it starts as a deep rumble in his chest, works its way up and spills past his lips to blow against the hair on top of her head. He shakes against her and she hooks her arms a little tighter around his neck as her smile spreads into a grin.

He kisses her forehead and murmurs about how she amazes him, and turns back around to return to the library. He throws her unceremoniously into the pool, and she pushes her skirts down, forcing herself back above the surface just in time for him to jump in and almost land on top of her.

He dives under the surface and grabs her ankle, making her squeal; resurfaces and splashes water at her. She splashes back, ignoring the pull of the heavy material she's wearing to lunge towards him. He catches her under the arms and holds her up in front of him, and suddenly she's thinking about how it would feel to kiss him. For one heart stopping moment her eyelids flutter shut and she thinks it's going to happen, that he's going to lean forward and bridge the minuscule gap between them, press his lips to hers – but then he lets her go and she sinks under the surface for just a second.

He's immediately pulling her back up, apologising profusely, saying that his hands just slipped, but the moment is gone and it's a painful recollection of a half-remembered dream, of another man and another time she ended up in water instead of with a kiss. She swipes furiously at her eyes, praying that he mistakes her tears for droplets of pool water.

The downturn of his lips and the shadow that passes over his eyes make her worry that she hasn't fooled him.


	6. The Girl Who Waited

Her name was Amy, he tells her when she discovers the miraculously dry and undamaged photograph in the pocket of his tweed jacket, which is hung up on the railing in the console room to dry.

She traces the pretty, round face of the girl in the photo; with hair a fiery red identical to her own, and wide eyes so like hers. She looks at the girl's easy smile, at the way she has her arm draped with such casual confidence over his shoulder. He looks younger, in the photo. A lot younger, and a lot less broken.

"Amelia Pond." He says it almost as though he's talking to himself; his eyes slightly dazed and a reminiscent smile playing on his lips. "The Girl Who Waited."

She watches his whole demeanour change at just the memory of this girl, and she silently returns the photo to his breast pocket, so it can sit right above his left heart. Her own heart sinks as her head swirls.


	7. Pause

Three days of their personal timeline later, they're caught in a sudden downpour of rain in a little English village. They end up in a pub, at table by the fire, which she finds endlessly fascinating.

"The wonders of the universe," he says, "and you're entertained by a common fireplace."

"It's fascinating," she tells him, hands outstretched to feel the heat of the flames.

"You know, I once found a fireplace that was actually a time window from a space ship in the 51st century to 18th century France."

She stares at him, wide-eyed wonder and rapt attention. "You did?"

"Yeah, that was an adventure and a half. Clockwork droids, a horse…" He trailed off, eyes suddenly darker. "That was a long time ago."

"How old are you?"

"Me? I'm 1220."

"Gosh," she breathes. "You must have had so many adventures!"

"You have no idea." He smiles at her, but it's the sad sort of smile you give to someone who you know means well but is hurting you anyway. "What about you then, how old are you?"

"Sixteen," she replies, and he makes a sort of choked noise.

"You're… young."

"I am not," she counters, setting her jaw and glaring at him for an imagined offense.

"You are. Don't mermaids live to 300?"

"Roughly, yes."

"You're just a -"

"I am _not _a child!" she snaps before he can finish he sentence. "I can take care of myself." He smiles knowingly, and her anger immediately softens. She tries to resist, but eventually she has to ask, "What?"

"You remind me of... someone. A few someones, actually."

She leans forward, propping her elbow on the table and cupping her chin in her palm. "Who?"

"Some of my past companions," he answers. "I suppose you could say I have a type."

"What does that mean?" she asks innocently, even as her thoughts return to the photo she knows is still safe in his breast pocket, of him and the mysterious Amy Pond.

"It means I only pick the best."

She grins.

When their meals arrive she twirls the dinglehopper – fork, he corrects, although he says he personally prefers her name for it – and he shows her how to use it to pick up chips.

"You can use your fingers, though, if you want," he explains. She nods with a mouthful of mushed potato, and it's an adorable sight. He relaxes into his chair, straightens his bowtie and says, "Have I told you about the time I saw the end of the world and then went to get chips?"

* * *

**a.n. **i think ff stuffed up with the last chapter and didn't send out notifications. _please review! _


	8. Food

He tries to serve her crab for dinner one night, when they're dining on an island in the middle of the Caribbean, and she wrinkles her nose at him in disgust.

He pulls the plate back and apologises sheepishly. "Ah, yes, sorry. Probably a bit insensitive of me. Never have been the best with.. marine… things." He clears his throat awkwardly and stares down at his own plate, piled high with sea food, as though unsure of what to do with it.

"_You _can eat it," she says plainly, sensing his moral dilemma. "But I won't."

He pushes his plate to the side and says, "Yes, well.. It's lost a bit of it's appeal now, hasn't it?"

She should feel guilty for putting him off his dinner, she supposes, but she can't quite bring herself to. She asks, "Am I the first mermaid you've met?"

He thinks for a moment and then shakes his head. "No, I've met a couple of merfolk. But I think they might have been a different… breed. Met King Neptune, once, a long time ago."

"You met Grandfather?" she exclaims, leaning forward in excitement.

"I met -" his smile slips as he processes her words. "Grandfather? You're Neptune's granddaughter?" She nods enthusiastically. "But that would make you… well, royalty."

Her excitement dims, and she looks vaguely uncomfortable. "Yeah."

"You're a princess," he says, dumbfounded. She doesn't reply, so he just keeps talking. "You're a _princess_! I can't just have a normal mermaid for a companion, can I? No, I have to take a _mermaid princess_!"

The other diners are turning to look, and she quickly shushes him. "Not so loud!"

He almost dives forward, leaning right across the table and hissing, "You didn't tell me you were a _princess_."

She shrugs innocently. "I didn't think it was important."

"Didn't think it was – _Ariel, _you need to tell me these things if we're going to travel together."

"_Why_?" she asks, looking every bit as young as her sixteen years.

"Because if you're royalty, then there's going to be an entire kingdom searching for you."

"You said you can get me back to the night we left, make it so I wasn't even gone five minutes," she replies. "You do have a _time machine_."

"Well.. yes.. but…" he flounders, and then scowls at her. "You still should have told me."

She fires up, pushing her shoulders back and pointing a finger at him accusingly. "You keep a lot of secrets from me," she retorts. "I know hardly anything about you – I don't even know your _name _– so don't yell at me for not telling you something."

He softens, scowl melting into a tired sigh. "I'm sorry," he says, and he sounds genuine. "I am, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have got upset with you, you're right. It was hypocritical of me, and it won't happen again."

She shifts in her chair and mumbles her own apology, not quite willing to let him off the hook for his indiscretions.

"You know," he says coyly, "I met a doctor once who was masquerading as a mermaid on a stranded pirate ship. Or maybe she was a siren… what are the technicalities there?"

She can't help but giggle. "You're really not good with 'marine things', are you?"

"Well at least I've got you to teach me, now." He smiles at her.

"And you can keep teaching me about human things… Time Lord things… spacey things," she replies.

His smile blooms into a grin, and he reaches across the table to take her hand. "Spacey-wacey."

"Time-wimey."

They both laugh, and when the Doctor lets go of her hand he knocks his plate off the table with his elbow. It clatters to the floor, and all the two of them can do is laugh harder.

* * *

**a.n. **thank you so much for all the favourites/follows and _reviews. _i'd really appreciate it if more of you could tell me what you think of the story, i need to know what you like/don't like/want to see more of! also, the first doctor did really meet king neptune once, that's totally canon. thanks for reading, please review!


	9. Fight

The alien has her cornered, tentacles _schwlopping _disconcertingly across the floor and sharp teeth bared threateningly as it stalks forward.

Panic constricts her chest, wraps around her heart and squeezes it tight, making her pulse race. She can't see the Doctor anywhere and she's really worried now, because he'd told her it was dangerous, travelling in the TARDIS, but she hadn't really believed him until now. And wasn't that a mistake, because maybe if she hadn't been so complacent she wouldn't have wandered off and found herself trapped in the secret lair where these monsters have been running freaky illegal experiments on the general populace.

"Doctor!" she screams, but he doesn't come rushing in to her aid, and she starts to despair.

The purple alien in front of her just laughs and continues its menacing advance.

She's absolutely trapped now, no way out, and the alien starts rubbing its two vaguely humanoid hands together. They begin to spark and charge, bolts of deadly electricity arcing between them.

Just as the alien gets within hands reach she remembers the contents of her left jacket pocket and she feels a glimmer of hope. As fast as she can, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the dinglehooper – _fork, _it's a _fork – _and stabs the alien. She's not even sure where she stabs, because as soon as she feels the prongs pierce through flesh she ducks past it and runs for the door.

She collides with a breathless Doctor in the doorway and his arms fold around her instantaneously.

"Run!" he shouts, and she does as he says, legs propelling her down the hall and back to the TARDIS.

The Doctor is flat on her heels, and just before they get inside the doors there's an explosion from the building they just left.

"What was that?" she calls.

"Later!" he calls back, pushing her into the console room.

And he does tell her later, when they're floating safely in deep space, far, far away from the white dwarf star that had become a colony for the tentacled aliens.

He blew up the lab, using an explosive chemical reaction that, while disastrous for the facilities, was actually harmless for the gelatinous aliens themselves. He'd alerted the local authorities and was sure that the criminals ("Villains," she corrected) were currently being arrested.

Once he's finished telling his story, he asks her, "How did you get out? It looked like she had you cornered."

She chews her bottom lip and admits, "I stabbed her with a fork."

"You – you stabbed her. With a _fork_," he repeats, absolutely dumbfounded. She nods, and then he picks her up and swings her around. "That's _brilliant! _Brilliant use of a – what did you call it? – dinglehopper!" She laughs and hugs him tighter, only letting go when he places her back on her feet and says, "You know, that wouldn't have really hurt her… What with being all… fleshy like that."

"I think it was just a surprise," she says. "A big enough surprise to give me time to get out of there."

He smiles at her proudly, and twirls off around the console. "_So, _where do you wanna go next?"

"Somewhere _without _aliens with gooey tentacles," she suggests, leaning against the railing.

"I'm pretty sure I can do that," he says, flicking a lever and beaming at her. "Just try not to stab the locals this time."

* * *

**a.n. **thank you so much for all your reviews and such, I love hearing what you guys think of the story and the interactions!


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